THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is a gift that makes the Christmas celebrations at Rajaji Nagar in the city, once known as Chengalchoola colony, an ever-memorable one. The gift is a home for the colony’s old couple, the blind Victoria and Peter, sponsored by the Vincent De Paul Society, a charitable organisation. Victoria and Peter, abandoned by their children, were living in a hut which was in a miserable condition. The new home for them has strong walls and is tin-roofed. It has one big bedroom and a kitchen.Fr Santhan Charuvil, vicar of the colony’s Thaddeus Suriyani Malankara Catholic Church, blessed the home on Saturday in the presence of the members of the Vincent De Paul Society and other residents of the colony. While Victoria and Peter welcome this year’s Christmas in the new home, their neighbours too share their happiness. Because, for the people of the colony, happiness and sorrow are common. There are about 3,000 families in the colony, of which about 250 families are Christians.On the eve of Christmas, the prayer group of the church forms five smaller groups and they conduct a three-day carol. Vincent De Paul Society distributes a Christmas kit to selected families containing rice, provisions and cake. But don’t think that Christmas celebrations are limited to 250 families only. ‘’Celebrations are common here since religion or caste does not matter much for them. All festivals are alike for the 3,000 families, so is Christmas,” said Fr Santhan.Christmas is the second biggest celebration in the colony after Onam. “We do not have any feeling that Christmas is for Christians only,” said Annamma, a housewife in the colony. Latin Catholic families also participate in the midnight mass of Thaddeus Church. Dr P V George, a member of the Vincent De Paul Society, said that now celebrations are peaceful here. ‘’Ten years ago, the situation was not the same. With the days of criminal activities gone, now residents here have a feeling that the bad image about the colony should change. They have improved their way of living. The government’s intervention in providing better facilities also helped,” he said. “We no more want to carry the stigma of belonging to the notorious Chengalchoola colony. We have changed. The people outside the colony should also recognise this,” Ramesh, a resident of the colony, said. But, this year, the colony’s Christmas celebrations are somewhat subdued. The son of Asokan, one of the residents, died two months ago, bringing some sadness to the celebrations.
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